History & Biography The Newcastle's Atomkraft was formed in 1979 as an early speed metal band and released a 1983 demo entitled Total Metal before splitting. The band, called Moral Fibre at this point, was actually the brainchild of Tony Dolan and drummer Paul Spillet who remained with the group until 1984. Earlier the name had changed to Atomkraft after guitarist Chris Taylor had brought badges from Germany with the slogan 'Atomkraft No Danke.' Atomkraft is German for 'nuclear power.' Chris Taylor though is quickly replaced by Steve White. A demo called Demon is recorded in 1981. The band played shows and entered Impulse Studio with producer Tony Nichols again. The result was the Total Metal demo.
Tony Dolan took off to Canada though at the end of 1983. The line-up had suffered the loss of Steve White and things were uncertain for the band. Even though Tony was joined by Paul in Canada and he had also formed a band there he soon decided to return to England. Upon return, the new line-up recorded the Pour The Metal In demo, got a deal with Neat Records and even opened for Slayer. The new line-up featured Ged Wolfe who was introduced to Dolan by Cronos of Venom. Wolfe was the brother of Venom's manager and formerly of Tyson Dog. The new line-up also featured the sixteen-year old guitarist Rob Matthews.
In order to support the debut, the band did several shows including ones with Venom and Exodus. After some internal problems including one over management, Dolan was out and replaced by Swift on vocals. The band recorded the Queen Of Death EP in 1986. This EP featured the new line-up (including D.C. Rage), but also had Tony Dolan on several songs originally from the Your Mentor EP.
An EP called Conductors Of Noise was next. Dolan had returned at the request of the remaining members. They cancelled a 1987 tour of the UK. The band toured Europe with Nuclear Assault and Agent Steel, participated at the Dynamo and got D.C. back in the band.
A 1988 tour with Nasty Savage saw Dolan on guitars. With a cancelled album entitled Atomised behind them and Swift leaving the fold, Dolan took off to Venom (Atomkraft had opened for Venom in the early days) whom he had always admired. Venom's first shows with Venom were actually undertaken using the Son Of Satan name. The band, apparently, wanted to break in the new line-up first. In the meanwhile,Swift had gone on to become a professional Dolan resurrected Atomkraft in 2002 and promised an anthology and new material for 2004. Dolan would perform on Mantas' 2004 solo album, but would soon reform Atomkraft after being ousted from Mantas. A forthcoming album was called Head Smashed In (I Couldn't Give a Fuck).
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